The Lenten Fast for Today’s Catholic

Posted February 14, 2018 10:57 am by Fr. Daniel Callam

Can there be a shorter account of Our Lord’s forty days in the desert than the one from Saint Mark? It omits not only the familiar three temptations but also the fact that Jesus fasted for the entire period of nearly six weeks. In doing so, he matched the great prophets from the Old Testament—Moses and Elijah—who had themselves gone without food for forty days and forty nights. This omission is insignificant for us, because nobody fasts nowadays. And yet fasting is recommended by both Scripture and Tradition. To take only one instance, Jesus said of his disciples—and that includes